Refugee and immigrant advocates seek to calm post-election fears

Pope John Paul II High School seniors gathered in the school library to watch the early returns of the presidential election on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Photos by Rick Musacchio

As the American people continue to unpack exactly what the election of Donald Trump means for the country, those who work with vulnerable populations such as refugees and immigrants have serious concerns and questions about what the future holds.

President-elect Trump made the issue of immigration one of the foundations of his campaign. He promised to round up the undocumented, deport them, and build a wall along the Mexican border; he also talked about enacting a ban on Muslims entering the country.

In the days following Trump’s election as president, the Catholic Charities Office of Refugee Resettlement began receiving calls from school counselors seeking assistance for how to talk with refugee children who are afraid of being sent back to the countries they fled. “These are calls we haven’t gotten before,” said Refugee Resettlement Department Director Kellye Branson.

“We want to calm their fears,” Branson said, noting that anyone who arrived in the country through the refugee resettlement program is here legally and faces no imminent threat of deportation. However, “we’re kind of in a holding position, waiting to see what policy implications are for the future,” she said.

The president has the authority to set the number of refugees accepted annually by the United States. President Barack Obama has raised it from 70,000 in 2015 to 85,000 in 2016 to 110,000 for 2017. President-elect Trump could reduce that number for future years.

Security and assimilation

Catholic Charities of Tennessee has decades of experience resettling refugees in this state. Since its founding in 1962, it has assisted refugees and asylum seekers and helped them assimilate to American culture and the local community. Catholic Charities has helped resettle 637 refugees in the Nashville area so far this year, including refugees from the Congo, Somalia and Syria.

Social Studies department chair Andrew Griffiths, right, explains a point on the electoral map to AP Government students Emma Horton, left, Charlsi Jayne Patterson and Annie Kyriakidis.

While the world’s refugees wait and hope to be resettled in a more stable and secure country, those who work with refugees in Tennessee are taking steps to clear up misconceptions about who refugees are and the rigorous process they must undergo to reach the United States. Branson welcomes calls from anyone who would like more information about the refugee resettlement program, and is available to speak to groups as well. More information is available at www.cctenn.org.

Refugees are defined as individuals who have had to leave their home country because of a well-founded fear of persecution. They are targeted because of their religious or political beliefs, or membership in a particular social class.

Branson pointed out that the refugee resettlement program “is the most secure way of entering the U.S. It’s a lengthy process.”

First, a refugee reports to a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. If a refugee is seeking entry into the U.S., he or she will undergo vetting from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the State Department. This involves extensive interviews and background checks, with a particular focus on any signs of radicalization or connection with a terrorist group, which would immediately disqualify that person from entry into the U.S.

Branson understands that Americans are concerned about national security and the integrity of the refugee resettlement program. “We want it to be secure too,” she said. “The people resettling are fleeing the same people we don’t want to enter the country. We want to safely and humanely resettle the people who have been persecuted most throughout the world.” She also noted that less than 1 percent of refugees worldwide ever get resettled.

One positive outcome of the election so far, Branson said, is a surge in calls from people interested in volunteering with the Refugee Resettlement office. In the two days following the election, her office received about 20 calls from interested volunteers, the same amount they normally receive in a month.

“Now more than ever Americans and long-time residents are needed to reach out to our new arrivals and offer a hand of friendship and welcome,” Branson said.

If newly arrived refugees can make personal connections with American volunteers, it can make for a smoother transition to a new culture, help them learn English, and feel like a part of the community more quickly. “Developing those connections is a huge thing for our clients,” Branson said.

‘A lot of uncertainty’

Donna Gann, program coordinator of Immigration Services for Catholic Charities of Tennessee, said her clients are anxious as well. “There has been an increase in calls wanting to know what’s going to happen now,” she said.

Maggie McCluney, a caseworker with Catholic Charities’ Immigration and Hispanic Family Services, echoed Gann, saying that since the election, “it is especially difficult to keep up with inquiries. Many clients are concerned about deportation and separation of families. There is a lot of uncertainty.”

If clients have their paperwork in order and are applying for citizenship, “we are hopeful that any process currently pending will continue without (increased) scrutiny,” Gann said via email. “The only clients we are really concerned about are the DACA recipients,” Gann said, referring to those who are currently protected under President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Many of the undocumented immigrants who fall under that protection were brought to the United States by their parents as young children and may not even remember living in their country of origin.

More than 720,000 young undocumented immigrants have been approved for that program, which protects them from deportation for two-year periods and grants them work permits. Since DACA was created by executive order, it could be rescinded by executive order under the new Trump administration, which officially begins Jan. 20.

During his campaign, Trump vowed to undo what he called President Obama’s “overreaching” executive orders on immigration. “If the threats come to fruition then they could be under removal proceedings,” Gann said of those currently protected under DACA and DAPA, the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program. “That will be an issue we will continue to review and fight hard against,” she added.

Standing with immigrants

Since Trump’s election, the U.S. bishops have been outspoken about their continued support for immigrants and refugees. In a letter read Nov. 14 during the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Migration, Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio L. Elizondo of Seattle, called on President-elect Trump “to continue to protect the inherent dignity of refugees and migrants.”

Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, newly elected vice president of the USCCB, called for mercy and an end to deportations as he led religious leaders in an interfaith prayer service Nov. 10 for peace, solidarity and unity at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

“Let’s pray tonight, in a special way – that our leaders will find it in their hearts to make a beautiful, humanitarian gesture,” Archbishop Gomez said during the prayer service. “Let’s pray that they can come together, in a spirit of national unity, and agree to stop the threat of deportations – until we can fix our broken immigration system.”

For many years the U.S. Catholic bishops have called for comprehensive immigration reform that keeps families together, respects the dignity of all people, and ensures secure borders. Extensive information on the bishops’ position can be found at www.justiceforimmigrants.org.

At both the federal and state levels, “we are very concerned with what type of laws will come down with regard to refugee resettlement,” said Jennifer Murphy, executive director of the Tennessee Catholic Public Policy Commission, which represents the state’s three bishops on public policy matters.

Until action is taken by the new Trump administration or until a new state law is passed by the Tennessee General Assembly next session, “we proceed as we always have,” Murphy said of the work that Catholic Charities does in successfully resettling refugees in Nashville.